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Dayton beats Xavier, guarantees a bid thief a spot in A-10 final

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In the immortal words of Bill Pidto, the Atlantic 10 is a developing situation

Dayton finally decided they wanted to play like the Dayton we’ve all expected to see for the past two seasons, jumping out to a 21-3 lead on No. 1 seed Xavier in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals. The Flyers were up 54-37 before Xavier went on a 30-12 run to take a 67-66 lead with 25 seconds left.

But Luke Fabrizius was the hero, hitting two free throws with six seconds on the clock before Tu Holloway had a three at the buzzer rim out, as the Flyers handed the Musketeers just their second Atlantic 10 loss of the season and advanced to the Atlantic 10 semifinals, where they will play the winner of St. Joe’s and Duquesne.

Bubble teams beware.

Regardless of what happens, there will be at least one team playing for the Atlantic 10’s autobid with no shot whatsoever of earning an at-large.

Temple and Richmond are still alive in the bottom of the bracket, so assuming a bid will be stolen is premature.

But Dayton is as talented as any team in the conference and Duquesne started out A-10 play 7-0. Both of those teams are capable of winning the conference title.

And if that happens, its just one more spot on the bubble that will be taken.

So if you are a fan of a bubble team, you better get your Temple pom-poms out.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.